When visiting any country, it is important not to confuse tourism with emigration.
Folk wisdom
In past articles, , ) we touched on the professional topic that awaits a young and still green university graduate upon admission, as well as while studying in Switzerland. The next part, which logically follows from the previous three, is to show and tell about everyday life, about и , proliferated on the Internet (most of which are nonsense), about Switzerland, as well as affect the balance of expenses and income.
Disclaimer: Why did I even start writing this article? There are actually a lot of “success stories” on Habré about how to leave, but very little about the reality that an emigrant will have to face upon arrival. one of the few examples that I liked, even if the author looks at the world through pinkish glasses, IMHO. Yes, you can find something in the vastness of google-documents, which is occasionally updated, with scattered tips, but this does not give a complete picture. So let's try to draw it!
Everything that is stated below is an attempt to reflect on the surrounding reality, that is, in this article I would like to focus on my own feelings from the path traveled and share my observations. I hope that this will encourage someone to move to Switzerland, and someone to make their own little Switzerland at least in a single yard.
So, let's talk about everything in order, make yourself comfortable, there will be a longread.
Carefully, there is a lot of traffic under the cut (~20 MB)!
Well-Known Facts About Little-Known Switzerland
Fact #1: Switzerland is first and foremost
In other words, the degree of independence of individual cantons is quite high. Approximately, as in the USA, where each state has its own taxes, its own judicial systems, and so on, which are united by some general rules.
"Political" map of Switzerland.
Of course, there are fat cantons - Geneva (banks), Vaud (EPFL + tourism), Zurich (large IT companies), Basel (Roche and Novartis), Bern (this one is generally the largest and most developed), but there is some , which is hard to find on the map, or Valais, whose inhabitants are often treated with disdain (many rednecks, politically correct "children from closely related ties" and in general they joined the confederation ).
Fact #2: Switzerland is the country of the Soviets
Switzerland is essentially council-run, which is what I'm talking about. on the 100th anniversary of the Revolution. Yes, yes, you heard right, the French word Conseil (council) and the German Beratung (given advice, instruction) are, in fact, the very councils of people's deputies of the dawn of “October, Socialist, yours!”.
NB for bores: yes, I perfectly understand that perhaps this is pulling an owl on the globe and afterthought, however, the Council and Conseil coincide in terms of goals and objectives, namely, to allow ordinary citizens to the basics of governing their district, city, country and ensure the change of power.
Councils of these several levels: Council of the district or "village" - Conseil de Commune or Gemeinde, as they call for , City Council - Conseil de Ville, Council of Canton - Conseil d'Etat), Council of Cantons - Conseil des Etats, Federal Council - . The latter is effectively the federal government. In general, around some advice. This state of affairs was enshrined in the Constitution as early as 1848 (that's right, Lenin at that time was small and with a curly head!).
L'Union soviétique or L'Union des Conseils?For me it was like a bolt from the blue in November after 5 years of living in Switzerland. Somehow unexpectedly, 1848 came together in my head, the first arrival of the "nobleman" Ulyanov aka Lenin in 1895 to Switzerland, i.e. half a century after the formation of the system of Soviets, and the "Soviets" aka conseils. But Lenin lived in Switzerland for another 5 years from 1905 to 1907 (after the creation ) and from 1916 to 1917. Thus, Ilyich had enough time (and then 5 years it was a hoo-hoo-hoo time!) Not only for revolutionary activity, but also for studying the local political system.
Commemorative plaque "Fuhrer" in Zurich
We will not speculate on the topic of whether Lenin or some other revolutionary brought the “Soviets” to Russia or whether they originated in their own way, however, this system of councils turned out to be quite effective and after the October Revolution was deployed on an unplowed field of “shards of autocracy”, including ordinary people: peasants , sailors, workers and soldiers.
A couple of years after the country of the Soviets in 1922, the state of the USSR appeared on the map, which, oddly enough, was also Kon-federation, and the union republics so willingly used the article on secession from it in the 90s. So the next time you see a mention (after all, French is the language of international diplomacy even today) or Soviet Union, think about whether it was Soviet, or maybe L'Union des Conceils ?!
The meaning of all these councils is to give the entire population of the Confederation the right to participate in the political life of the country and, in fact, direct democracy. Thus, politicians often have to combine their regular work with a role in local government, that is, in some kind of Council.
Here is one example of candidates: a cook (cusinier), a chauffeur, a dentist and an electrician are available.
I am impressed that the Swiss are responsible not only for their “yard”, but also consciously participate in the life of the village and the city, have some kind of innate and / or educated sense of responsibility.
Fact #3: Switzerland's political system is unique
From fact 2 it follows that Switzerland is one of the very few countries in the world where direct democracy is possible and operates. Yes, the Swiss are very fond of expressing their will for any reason - from whether to use artillery to launch avalanches to whether to build houses from concrete or from more environmentally friendly wood (there are mountains in Switzerland, there are a lot of raw materials, but this supposedly kills the natural beauty, and indeed: it looks ugly, but strained with a “beautiful” tree).
The main thing here - in the heat of advocating for a universal and universal suffrage - is to remember that a little more than 8 million people live in Switzerland and organizing a vote on any issue is a relatively troublesome task. And it's easy to collect statistics - send an email with a login password to enter and you're done.
This is what the statistics collection system looks like. So far, you have to go to the polling stations yourself to vote, but only citizens have the right to vote.
By the way, it is very convenient and allows you to generate convenient statistics every year. For example, demographic data for the last 150 years of Swiss history in .
Fact #4: Conscription is compulsory in Switzerland
However, the service itself is not to pull the strap, continuously repaying the debt to the Motherland from the fence to sunset, but rather a mandatory health camp for men up to 45 years old inclusive. Truly, the first 40 years of childhood are the most difficult in a man's life! Even the employer does not have the right to refuse if the employee is called for training, and the time spent (usually 1-2 weeks) will be paid in full.
Why health camp? Soldiers go home for the weekend, work strictly by the hour. For example, when one early morning a plane was hijacked in neighboring Italy and sent to Geneva, then by coincidence (working day from 8 am to 6 pm and a break from 12 to 13) the Swiss army .
There is a fairly persistent myth that all Swiss are given weapons home after serving in the army. Not to everyone, but only to those who want and do not give (that is, for free), and they buy it at the lowest prices, while there are requirements for storage, and not just under the bed. By the way, then you can shoot at the shooting range with this weapon, if there are familiar servicemen.
from : somewhere since 2008, they stopped issuing weapons to everyone in a row. Special storage requirements (bolt separately) apply only to automatic weapons, i.e. during active service. After the army, the rifle is converted into a semi-automatic and can be stored like other weapons (“not available to third parties”). As a result, active soldiers have a machine gun in an umbrella stand at the entrance, and the shutter is lying in a desk drawer.
The latest referendum (see Fact No. 3) will oblige the federal government to implement European regulations on the handling of weapons, that is, in fact, it will tighten the possession of them.
Left: Swiss army rifle (killing power), right: the pleasure of firing a B-1-4 (if you know what I mean) aka
Fact #5: Switzerland is more than just cheese, chocolate, knives and watches
When you hear the word Switzerland, many people think of cheese (Gruyère, Emmentaller or Tilsiter), chocolate (usually Toblerone, because it is sold in every duty free), an army knife and fabulously expensive watches.
If you are thinking of buying a watch (this also includes such brands as Tissot, Balmain, Hamilton and others), then up to 1 francs, almost all watches are made at the same manufactories and the filling of all watches is approximately the same. Only starting from the upper range (Rado, Longines) at least some "chips" appear.
In fact, such a world order has been adopted in Switzerland that technologies are created and developed inside the country, which are then exported from the country, because the country is poor in resources. The most famous examples are Nestlé milk powder and Oerlikon rifled barrels (), which was equipped with the Wehrmacht and the Kriegsmarine during the Second World War. At the same time, the country has its own (ABB - power, EM Microelectronic - RFID, smart cards, smart watch filling, and so on according to the nomenclature list of goods), its own production of complex components and assemblies, its own assembly of trains (double-decker , for example, are collected under Villeneuve) and further down the list. And about the fact that a good half of the pharmaceutical industry is sitting in Switzerland - I will tactfully keep silent (Lonza in the new cluster in Sierre, Roche and Novartis in Basel and the surrounding area, DeBioPharm in Lausanne and Martinи (Martigny) and a bunch of startups and smaller companies).
Fact #6: Switzerland is a kaleidoscope of climates
Switzerland has with temperatures down to -30 C, there are Sochi (Montreux, Montreux), where rickety palms grow beautifully and herds of swans graze, there are their own "deserts" (Valais), where air humidity is kept from 10 to 30% all year round, and the amount of sunshine exceeds 320 days a year, and there are also St. Petersburg, like Geneva (with и ) or Zurich.
In anticipation of the new year: it is still relatively warm in Montreux, and there is already snow in the mountains
It's funny, Switzerland is famous for its ski resorts, but there is not much snow in most cities, therefore, often the snow is not removed, but the passage is cleared for cars and pedestrians - they are waiting for it to melt. Autobahns, of course, have to be cleaned in the first place, but only with the beginning of the working day. Now imagine some half-millionaire, like Zurich, during such apocalypses ...
An example is the snowfall in Zion in December 2017 - a complete collapse. Even the platform at the station was cleaned for several days. Zion was unlucky twice in 2017-2018 – first his , and then drowned in the summer. Our laboratory was also damaged. And I will ask you to notice, no Sobyanin.
In Switzerland, everything works like a precise clock, but as soon as the snow falls, it turns into Italy. (c) is my boss.
And according to this, in each house there is a responsible person who is responsible for cleaning the local area, usually this is a concierge, there is a simple cleaning technique (for example, ). In villages, residents with large cars have a special dump for this. Everything is cleaned down to asphalt or tiles, otherwise it will melt during the day and freeze at night. What prevents people in Russia from getting together and putting their own yards in order, or buying a small harvester (~30k rubles) for these purposes remains a mystery to me.
History of one parking lot in RussiaIt so happened that about 8 years ago I had a car, I loved it and carried a shovel in it, with which I dug out my parking lots. So for 1 day in my far from poor yard (SUVs from Mazda and Tuareg are the norm), I dug out 4 parking spaces in one daylight hours.
Just like in a relationship, everything is determined not by who, to whom and what you owe, but by what you yourself have done for convenience and the general welfare. You have to start with yourself! And the Tuareg are rolling a track for themselves in the yard and in the parking lot ...
Fact number 7: Universal "politeness"
Tell me honestly, when was the last time you said “good afternoon” and “thank you” to the service staff? And in Switzerland it is the same habit as breathing in and out, which is growing in small villages. For example, here almost everyone will have to say bonjour / guten Tag / buongiorno (good afternoon) at the beginning of a conversation, merci / Danke / gracie (thank you) after some service, and bonne journée / Tschüss / ciao (have a good day) when saying goodbye. And in haiks, everyone you meet will greet you - amazing!
And this is not an American "hawa" when a person somewhere in his bosom holds an ax to chop as soon as you turn away. In Switzerland, since the country is small and, until recently, with a significant “village” population, everyone greets, albeit automatically, but more sincerely than in the USA.
However, don't be fooled by the hospitality and kindness of the Swiss. Let me remind you that the country has one of the most stringent naturalization laws, which includes working life, language skills, and exams. Good on the outside, a little nationalist on the inside.
Fact #8: The Swiss village is the most alive
Surprisingly, it is a fact: in Switzerland, the village not only does not die out, but also develops and expands quite tolerably. The point here is not about ecology and green lawns, on which goats and cows jump, but purely economic. Since Switzerland is a confederation, taxes (in particular, personal income tax) are paid here at 3 levels: communal (village / city), cantonal (“region”) and federal. The federal one is the same for everyone, but “manipulations” – in the good sense of the word – with the other two can significantly reduce taxes if the family lives in the “village”.
We will talk about taxes in detail in the next part, but for now I will note that if for Lausanne, that is, a person lives in a city, the conditional tax burden is ~ 25% per person, then for some godforsaken village in the same canton of Vaud, for example, Mollie-Margot it will be ~15-17%. It is clear that not all this difference can be pocketed, since you will have to maintain the house yourself, mow the lawn, pay for the car and the road to work in the city, but housing prices are lower, the food is farm, and the children have plenty of freedom to run through the meadows.
And yes, there is a very strange attitude to marriage. Sometimes taxes for a family without children can significantly exceed the tax for one individual, so the Swiss are not in such a hurry to run to the local registry office. For the economy must be economical. They even held a referendum on this issue. But about taxes in the next part.
Transport system
In general, it is convenient to travel around Switzerland both by car and by public transport. Often the travel time is comparable.
Trains and public transport
Oddly enough, but for such a small country as Switzerland (in terms of area it is almost 2 times smaller than the Tver region and comparable to Moscow), the railway transport network is simply colossally developed. Add to this the PostAuto buses, which not only make it possible to move between remote villages, but also deliver the actual mail. Thus, you can get from almost anywhere in the country to any other.
Swiss trains are the most traveled trains in the world, especially the double-decker ones.
To plan your route, it is enough to indicate the departure and destination stations in the SBB application. A couple of years ago, it was significantly updated, the functionality was expanded, and it became just a great assistant when traveling around the country.
A few words about the history of SBBOnce upon a time, there were many private companies in Switzerland that built, operated and managed the movement of passengers and goods between cities. However, the bacchanalia of capitalism (somewhere they could not agree among themselves, somewhere they overestimated tariffs, and so on) ended at the beginning of the XNUMXth century with the creation of a common state coordinating center - SBB, which rather quickly saved the "effective owners" from many problems and headaches , nationalizing all railway carriers.
Now the remnants of the former "luxury" can be seen in the abundance of "subsidiary" companies that are engaged in transportation (MOB, BLS and so on) and which even paint trains in different colors from each other. However, they are engaged only in local transportation, and globally everything is still driven by SBB.
I would immediately like to draw a parallel: SBB is an analogue of the Russian Russian Railways, but this is not entirely true. SBB is an “overbrain” created to curb and manage individual regional carriers, while Russian Railways has a very complex structure, where cars are operated by some, contact networks by others, and the canvas by others. Hence, in my opinion, the problems of our railway communication.
Transport in Switzerland is fabulously expensive. If you buy tickets just in the machine without special tricks, then you can be left without pants in the truest sense of the word! For example, a ticket from Lausanne to Zurich will cost ~75 francs in the second class one way for 2 hours, so almost the entire population of Switzerland has subscriptions (AG, regional passes, demi-tariff, and so on). Friends who work for SBB say that the number of different types of tickets reaches a thousand! Together with the SBB application, a universal RFID card was introduced - , which is not only an electronic form of travel cards, but you can throw off a regular ticket or a ticket for a ski lift. In general, very convenient!
The hypothesis about the cost of tickets or what does demi-tariff have to do with itIMHO, SBB makes a knight's move: calculates the break-even cost of tickets, adds its 10%, and then multiplies by 2 so that people buy this demi-tariff card for 180 francs a year. Let 1 million such cards be sold per year (population ~ 8 million), because someone travels on regional passes, someone on AG. Total we have 180 million francs out of the blue.
This scenario is also supported by the fact that in 2017 SBB earned , which were distributed to the owners of various SBB cards in the form of bonuses, and also allowed to reduce the cost of tickets outside peak hours.
For teenagers, various discount programs are provided, for example, Voie 7 or Gleis 7 - up to 25 years old (renewal must be submitted 1 day before the date of birth), you can order this card for ~ 150-170 in addition to the half-price card (demi-tariff). It gives the right to travel on all trains (buses, ships and public urban transport are not included) after 7 pm (yes, 19-zero-zero, Carl! 18-59 - does not count!). An ideal way for a student to travel around the country.
However, while the article was being written, this map and introduce another one, Seven25, which has increased significantly in value.
In addition, SBB distributes to the communes aka cities and villages, the so-called daily tickets (carte journaliere). Each resident of a particular commune is entitled to several such tickets during the year. The cost, quantity and possibility of purchase for each commune are different and depend on the number of inhabitants.
from : depend only on the number of residents (publicly available on the SBB website), and the residents of the commune themselves decide at the general meeting whether to participate or not, and if they participate, then how much to sell a ticket to their residents.
Examples of carte journaliere and how to getIn the municipality of Geneve (major city) 20-30 tickets will be available every day, but they cost 45 CHF, which is quite expensive.
In the commune of Préverenges (village) there will be 1-2 such tickets per day, but they will cost 30-35 francs.
Also, the requirements for documents for the purchase of these change from commune to commune: somewhere just an ID is enough, but somewhere you need to confirm the fact of residence at the address, for example, bring a bill from the energy company or for the phone.
Belle époque train on the Golden Pass line between Montreux and Lucerne
And yes, it is worth mentioning that all SBB travel cards, with rare exceptions, apply to water transport, of which there is an abundance on every Swiss lake. So, for example, for a couple of years we have been riding on Lake Geneva with cheese and wine on luxury ships “Belle époque”.
Note for fans of conspiracy theories (about Huawei)Of course, to check tickets, you need a reader. The most versatile reader - NFC in a smartphone. A couple of years ago, all the conductors on the train walked with smartphones from Samsung, they say that they slowed down wildly and sometimes just hung up, and for a “car driver” it’s like death – neither to look at the schedule, nor to help those in need with transfers. As a result, they changed it to Huawei - everything works fine, does not slow down, if you know what I mean ...
And even without 5G networks...
Ship "Belle époque" between Montreux and Lausanne
Some ships still have a steam engine inside!
Although the SBB is developing at an incredible pace (new infrastructure, digitalization, including scoreboards - soon there will be practically no old flipping ones, a new double-decker train in Valais, and so on), a noticeable anachronism remains, and the ultra-old may well coexist with the ultra-modern. For example, special trains for fans, fans from the 70s with "gravity-type toilets" (c). Even some Zurich-Chur (IC3) trains are exactly like the train to Davos, where some of the cars are old and some are ultra-modern.
Tricks and life hacks from SBB for attentive readers
- If you are traveling in Switzerland in second class and need to work, or just a lot of people and want to "breathe" - just sit in the dining car, order beer or coffee for 6 francs and enjoy the comfort. Unfortunately, only on IC lines, and even then not all. Actually, part of this article was written in such restaurants.
- SBB has a program when you can buy both a ticket and a ski pass at a reduced price. In principle, until recently it worked with various travel cards, for example, AG. In fact, -10-15% of the ski pass price.
- On the GoldenPass (MOB) road, there are three types of carriages: regular, panoramic and Belle époque. It is best to choose the last two or just Belle époque.
- It is very convenient to buy tickets through the SBB app. Sometimes, during peak hours, there is a queue at the stations at the ticket machine, and having such an application is very helpful. By the way, in it you can buy a ticket for any person who travels with you.
car vs public transport
The question is a burning one and there is probably no simple answer to it. In terms of value, car ownership is a little more expensive than 3 francs per year for a second class AG, and traffic jams often occur (for example, in winter everyone goes skiing from Valais to Lausanne and Geneva, traffic jams stretch for 500-20 km) or some cataclysms, as in Zermatt in the winter of 30/2017 (due to avalanches, traffic was completely paralyzed for a week).
With a car: pay insurance (analogous to OSAGO, CASCO, TUV insurance, according to which technical assistance arrives, etc.), throw some money on gasoline, any minor breakdown turns into a quest and a waste of the budget.
And yes, advice for travelers: when entering Switzerland, you need to purchase the so-called vignette (~40 francs), which gives you the right to drive on highways during the calendar year - a kind of road tax. If you enter through such a highway, then be prepared that you will be forced to buy a vignette right at the point of entry. Therefore, if you rented a car in France and decided to stop by for a day in Geneva, then it’s better to find a smaller road to cross the border.
However, I would single out three categories where the answer is clear:
- Students and pupils up to 25 years old, who for ~350 francs have two cards (demi-tariff and voie7) and can easily move between major cities.
- Single people who live and work in large cities. That is, they do not have to travel to and from work every single day from some remote village, where the bus gets a couple of times in the morning and a couple of times in the evening.
- Married / married with children - at least one car per family is required.
On the other hand, a friend of mine in Geneva got a car, because going around the city center by public transport is time-consuming, and it’s easier to get to work in 15 minutes by ring road.
And recently, more and more cyclists, scooters and bikers are becoming on the roads. This is due to the fact that parking for scooters / motorcycles is usually free and there are really a lot of them scattered around the city.
Leisure and entertainment
How to entertain yourself in such a turbulent, but free time from work? How is it with leisure in general?
Cultural program: theaters, museums, concerts and cinema
Let's start with the main thing - the dialectics of the cultural life of Switzerland. On the one hand, the country is located in the physical center of Europe at the crossroads from Italy to Germany and from France to Austria, that is, artists of all stripes and nationalities can call in. In addition, the Swiss are solvent: 50-100 francs for a ticket to an event is the standard price, like going to a restaurant. On the other hand, the market itself is small - only 8 million inhabitants (~2-3 million potential customers). Therefore, in general, there are many cultural events, but often they are 1-2 concerts or performances in large cities (Geneva, Bern, Zurich, Basel) throughout Switzerland.
It follows that the Swiss love their "crafts", such as a concert for students , held in EPFL, or all kinds of festivals (spring festival, St. Patrick's Day, etc.), in which small-town amateur performances (sometimes even quite virtuoso) participate.
Unfortunately, local cultural handicrafts, such as a theater, for example, are of a very specific quality and property - for an amateur and a connoisseur of the language.
Sometimes there are events with Swiss specifics, such as organ music in the Lausanne Cathedral with thousands of candles lit. An event of this kind is either free or the entrance ticket costs about 10-15 francs.
3700 candles, however.
Since Swiss culture is the culture of peasants (farmers, shepherds) and various artisans, the events here are appropriate. For example, the descent and raising of cattle in the mountains, caves ouvertes (days of open cellars of winemakers) or a grand celebration of winemaking - (the last one was somewhere in the early 90s and will now be in July 2019).
Autumn descent of cows from the mountains in the canton of Neuchâtel
Sometimes these events end in the dead of night.
There are museums, but the quality of them, again, leaves much to be desired. For example, the puppet museum in Basel can be slowly walked around in a couple of hours, while the ticket costs about 10 francs.
Class of young alchemists in the puppet museum in Basel
And if you want to go to and visit the mineralogical and zoological museums, the museum of money, the museum of the history of the canton, and also admire the art museum, then you will have to pay 35 francs already. from : once a month, various museums can be visited for free (at least in Lausanne).
In addition, the building houses the library of the University of Lausanne, so you can figure out what kind of "Hermitage" awaits you. Therefore, if this is a museum in a castle, you should not wait for tapestries of the 14th century; if it is a museum of coins, you should not wait for the collection of the Armory or the Diamond Fund, it is better to focus on the level of the local museum.
Ryumin Palace on Place Ripon in Lausanne.
Yes, Lausanne is officially called the Olympic capital, the IOC, various international federations and so on are located here, and accordingly, there is an Olympic museum where you can see how, for example, torches have changed over the past century or nostalgic for Mishka-80.
World Olympics in Lausanne
Briefly about cinema. It's nice that movies are often shown with original voice acting and subtitles in one of the official languages of Switzerland.
Russian community and events
By the way, recently Russian artists and Russian films have been massively brought in (at one time they brought Leviathan and the Fool with Russian voice acting). If my memory serves me right, then the Russian ballet was definitely brought to Geneva.
In addition, the vast Russian community often organizes some of its own events: these are games of “What? Where? When? ”, Mafia, and lecture halls (for example, ), and events such as the "Immortal Regiment", organized by volunteers with the support of the consular department, "Total Dictation" and "Soladsky Halt" by .
Plus, there are a lot of groups on FB and VK (sometimes with an audience of under 10 people) in which the principle of self-organization operates: if you want to meet, meet, organize an event, you set a date and time. Who wanted to come. In general, for every taste and color.
Seasonal outdoor activities
Well, let's now see how you can entertain yourself seasonally in Switzerland besides cultural forays.
The beginning of the year is winter. As I mentioned above, Switzerland is famous for its ski resorts, which are scattered across the Alps in great abundance. There are very small slopes for 20-30 km, which is equivalent to one or two lifts, and there are giants for several hundred kilometers with dozens of lifts, such as 4 valleys (including ), the Saas Valley (the most famous among them is ), or some .
Usually ski resorts open at the end of December, beginning of January, depending on the amount of snow that has fallen, so almost every weekend from January to the end of February is devoted to skiing, hiking on glaciers (snow shoeing), riding on cheesecakes (aka tubing) and other mountain-winter joys.
Villars-sur-Gryon just after two days of snowfall
By the way, no one has canceled the usual cross-country skiing (there is a free or almost free track in almost every mountain village), as well as skating (there are in the mountains, but there are ice palaces in the cities themselves).
The price tag for one day of skiing ranges from 30 (small or hard-to-reach resorts) to almost a hundred francs (98, to be exact, for Zermatt with the opportunity to move to Italy). However, you can significantly save if you buy passes in advance - two or three months, or even six months. Likewise with hotels (if the plan is to stay in the same valley for a few days), which often need to be booked months in advance.
View of Saas-Fee from the Saas-Grund
As for the rental of equipment, the set: for skiing - usually 50-70 francs per day, cross-country - about 20-30. Which in itself is not so cheap, for example, in neighboring France, a set of ski equipment costs about 25-30 euros (~40 francs). Thus, a day of skiing, taking into account travel and food, can cost 100-150 francs. Therefore, having tasted it, skiers or boarders either rent equipment for the season (200-300 francs) or buy their own kit (about 1000 francs).
Spring is a time of uncertainty. On the one hand, already in March, mountain skiing turns into water skiing, it gets too hot, and skiing is somehow not a thrill. Drinking beer under a palm tree is a thrill - yes.
In April there is a wonderful Easter (4 days off), which many people use to go somewhere on a trip. Often at the end of April it becomes so warm that the first marathons are held. from : for lovers of walking there is .
Yes, if you think that 10 or 20 km is nothing, the soul requires a swing, then you can try . During this race, it is necessary not only to overcome the path of 26 km, but also to rise 3000 meters above sea level. In 2018, the record for women was 2 hours 46 minutes, for men - 2 hours 26 minutes.
We run sometimes
In May, the so-called caves ouvertes or days of open cellars begin, when, having paid 10-15-20 francs for a beautiful glass, you can walk between wine producers (who keep it in those very “cavas”) and taste it. The most famous region which are under the protection of UNESCO. By the way, some distilleries are located at a venerable distance, so you can take a good walk between them.
Those same Lavaux vineyards
In Ticino (the only Italian canton), they say even are available. I don’t know about the bike, but at the end of the day it’s already hard to stand on your feet.
During such tastings, you can buy wine for the future by placing an appropriate order, right on the spot at the winemaker.
Video strictly 18+, and in some countries even 21+
As early as May, you can start going to haiki aka mountain hikes, but usually not higher than 1000-1500 meters. Any hike route with elevation changes, approximate hiking time, difficulty, public transport schedule can be viewed on a special website - . For example, near Montreux there is an excellent , which L.N. Tolstoy loved, and along which daffodils bloom.
White daffodils blooming in the mountains are an amazing sight!
Summer: Hike-hike-hike and some lake fun. All summer months are mountain hikes of different length, complexity and elevation. It's almost like meditation: you can wander for a long time along a narrow mountain path and in the same mountain silence. Physical activity, oxygen starvation, stress, coupled with divine views - a great opportunity to reboot the brain.
Crossing from Zermatt to the half-kilometer suspension bridge
By the way, one should not think that a hike is an exceptionally difficult ascent and descent, sometimes the route runs through lakes in which it is quite possible to swim.
Lake. 2000 meters above sea level. Mid July.
Since the Russian-speaking shish kebab enjoys special reverence, about once a month we arrange a protein and fat day on the shore of the lake. Well, when someone else brings a guitar, then a sincere evening cannot be avoided.
Two aspects are worth noting here: on the one hand, the city organizes containers next to the barbecue area, on the other hand, the city authorities themselves install and equip such places. As an example, .
Two more purely summer activities are rafting on a boat / mattress on the "mountain" rivers (the most famous from Thun to Bern), as well as summer pleasure boats on the numerous lakes of Switzerland.
On a mountain river at a speed of 10-15 km per hour from Thun you can sail to Bern in 4 hours
On the first of August, Switzerland celebrates the day of the formation of the state with numerous fireworks and bonfires around the lake. On the second weekend of August, the moneybags of Geneva sponsor the Grand Feu de Geneve, during which thousands of fireworks explode to the accompaniment of music for 1 hour.
Full 4K video from last year
Autumn is the off-season blues for summer and winter. The most incomprehensible season in Switzerland, because it seems that you already want to go skiing after a hot summer, but there will be no snow until December.
September is still a little summer. You can continue the summer program and participate in marathons. But already in mid-October, the weather begins to deteriorate to such an extent that it is difficult to plan anything. And in November, the second season of open cellars begins, that is, to drink from longing for summer.
Traditional food and international food
It is also worth saying a few words about local food and cuisine. If the stores are described in , then here I would like to literally describe the local cuisine in a nutshell.
In general, the food is of high quality and tasty, if you do not buy the cheapest in Dener. However, like any Russian person, I miss Russian products - buckwheat, normal oatmeal (a la monastery, rough, since everything is designed for brewing with boiling water at best), cottage cheese (either DIY, or you need to prepare a mixture of cottage cheese and Serac from migros), marshmallow and so on
The history of one buckwheatSomehow one Swiss saw that a Russian girl was eating buckwheat, said that he was very surprised, and in general they feed her horses - buckwheat, and not a girl. Usually green. Oh, rickets Swiss ...
Traditional Swiss dishes (aka Alpine) cuisines are based for some reason on cheese and local edible supplies (sausages, potatoes and other vegetables) - fondue, raclette and rosti.
Fondue is a pan of melted cheese where everything that is missing is dipped.
Raclette is a cheese that is melted in layers. Just recently .
Raclette free program performed by native Swiss during the Summer Olympic Games in our laboratory. August 2016.
Rosti is a dish of "discord" between the German and French parts of Switzerland, giving its name to the informal border between the two parts of the country - already mentioned .
Otherwise, the cuisine is not much different from its neighbors: burgers, pizza, pasta, sausages, grilled meat - from all over Europe in crumbs. But what is most interesting and funny - I don’t even know why - Asian restaurants (Chinese, Japanese and Thai) are extremely popular in Switzerland.
Secret list of the best restaurants in Lausanne (suddenly it will come in handy for someone)Petit beef
wok royal
eat me
La crêperie la chandeleur
Three kings
Chez xu
Lizard blue
Le cinq
elegant blanc
bubble tea
Cafe du grancy
Movenpic
Aribang
Ichi ban
grappe d'or
Zooburger
taco taco
Swiss Chalet
pinte bessoin
Limited contingent of "Soviet" troops in the Swiss Confederation
And, finally, it is necessary to describe the contingent, which one way or another will have to face in the mountain meadow expanses of the Swiss Confederation.
Of course, cultural and national diversity can be considered a big plus here: Tatars, Kazakhs, Caucasians, Ukrainians, Belarusians and Balts - everyone here has been picked up from the world one by one. Accordingly, the holidays of borscht, dumplings or real pilaf seasoned with Georgian wine are a multinational reality.
We list the main groups (in bold strokes, so to speak) of the limited contingent of Soviet troops (95% were born in this country) in the Swiss Confederation in descending order of numbers. Among my friends there are almost all of the following groups.
At first, the vast majority of the Internet active population belongs to the group of “mothers”. Women who moved to Switzerland, having a marriage with a Swiss citizen behind them, actively discuss their “childish” problems, share where to find a cosmetologist and makeup artist, and also throw provocative questions a la “How is a Russian man better/worse than a Swiss one?”. There are even professional housewives who lead entire groups on FB and VK. They live in these groups and forums, make friends, get offended and even fight. Unfortunately, without them, these groups would not exist at all, there would be no suitable content to attract new members. Nothing personal, just a statement of fact.
Secondly, students, graduate students and other persons temporarily displaced to the territory of Switzerland. They come to study, sometimes they stay to work in their specialty, if they are lucky (see below). about employment). Students have student parties and events, which are often attended by internationals from all nations of the world. It seems to me that this is the happiest group, because they have the opportunity and time not only to work, but also to have a good rest. But it is not exactly!
Thirdly, expats who came to the country as accomplished specialists. They often see nothing but work, are busy with their careers and rarely appear at general events. Unfortunately, their number is vanishingly small compared to the previous two groups.
Fourthly, eternal seekers of a better life, who are able to give out one job search post with many grammatical errors and wait for someone to employ them. Let me remind you once again: the Swiss are a little bit nationalists in this matter and right and left do not distribute work permits to everyone.
Fifthly, new and not very Russian, aka "oligarchs" who have an alternate airfield in Switzerland.
It is difficult to gather so many diverse personalities, but for holidays and interesting events common to all of us - Victory Day, New Year or shish kebab on the lake - up to 50-60 people are allowed.
Visiting the salt mines in the town of Bex
To be continued about the financial side of the issue ...
PS: For proofreading the material, valuable comments and discussions, my big, big thanks and gratitude to Anna, Albert (), Yura and Sasha.
PPS: A minute of advertising. In connection with the latest “fashion” trends, I would like to mention that this year Moscow State University is opening a permanent campus (and has been teaching for 2 years!) of a joint university with Beijing Polytechnic University in Shenzhen. There is an opportunity to learn Chinese, as well as get 2 diplomas at once (IT specialties from VMK MSU are available). You can find out more about the university, directions and opportunities for students .
Video for clarity about the ongoing lawlessness:
Source: habr.com